Wheels are typically mounted on a vehicle using lug nuts or stud nuts, which threadably engage with studs extending from the hub or axle. The wheels include a plurality of holes that are arranged about the center axis and positioned to receive the studs. In order to most easily receive the studs therethrough, the wheel holes are slightly oversized in diameter with respect to the stud diameter. Properly aligning the wheel to the hub has in the past required maintaining an appropriate position of the wheel at the studs while threading the stud nuts onto the studs, so as to lock the wheel in position. Maintaining the wheel in the correct position during this locking procedure has proven to be difficult.
One approach to assisting in the proper alignment of the wheel on the hub is the hub-piloted wheel system, which is designed to position the wheel onto the hub with tighter tolerances than that achievable merely through attempts to align the wheel holes concentrically about the respective studs. In such hub piloted systems, the wheel hub is provided with hub pilot pads that are positioned circumaxially about the hub, and extend radially outwardly in an effort to take up any excess space between the wheel and the hub.
However, even with hub piloted systems, stresses on the wheel assembly can result in a “clocking” action of the wheel on the studs, and can lead to a loss of torque applied to the wheel rim by the stud nuts. The “clocking” movement results from the clearance or gap space between the each stud and the wheel hole. Typical wheel studs have a diameter of 22 mm, while the wheel holes have a manufactured diameter of 26 mm. The 2 mm radial gap space is provided to ease installation of the wheel on the studs, as well as to reduce corrosion of the adjacent components. Improper tightening of the stud nuts can lead to ineffective pressure applied by the nuts to the wheel, which can allow the wheel to move with respect to the studs, otherwise known as clocking.
Various solutions have been proposed in an attempt to address improper seating of the wheel on the studs. In some cases, alignment pins are temporarily placed at some of the studs to fill the radial gap space at such studs, so that stud nuts may be secured and torqued appropriately at the remaining studs, theoretically securing the wheel correctly in place. The alignment pins may thereafter be removed and replaced by stud nuts for final installation of the wheel.
Other proposed solutions have employed flanged stud nuts, wherein the flange protrudes into the radial gap space between the stud and the wheel when the stud nut is threaded onto the stud. In still further proposed solutions, sleeve members are directly threaded onto the studs to fill the gap space between the stud and the wheel at the wheel hole.
The previously proposed solutions, however, have drawbacks in that the components designed for filling the gap space in the wheel hole between the stud and the wheel are made from metal, and are susceptible to corrosion over time. Corroded components in tightly adjacent positions can seize the components, making removal of the wheel from the hub very difficult. Moreover, attempts to precisely fill the gap space with a pre-manufactured metal component has proven elusive, particularly where corrosion of the wheel at the wheel hole and of the stud can significantly alter the originally-manufactured dimensions. In such case, the gap filling devices fail to completely fill the gap, and they therefore fail to solve the “clocking” problem described above.
It is therefore an aspect of the present invention to provide a device for centering wheels on a hub, wherein the device is corrosion-resistant, and is capable of accommodating various gap space sizes while still completely bridging the gap space between the stud and wheel at the wheel hole.
It is another aspect of the present invention to provide a tool that is specifically adapted for cooperation with a wheel centering sleeve, both to install the wheel centering sleeve in the gap space between the stud and wheel at the wheel hole, and, optionally, to remove the wheel centering sleeve from the wheel hole.